Niels B. Schaumann
Dean, Professor of Law

Niels B. Schaumann became President and Dean of California Western in August of 2012. Prior to his appointment he served as a professor and Vice Dean for Faculty at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He is an expert in copyright law and federal securities regulation, and has taught courses in copyright law, computer law, comparative and international intellectual property, agency, partnership, corporations, securities regulation, and corporate finance. He is a frequent speaker on topics of copyright law and securities law, and has often served as an expert witness in copyright and securities cases.

Academic and Professional Background

Dean Schaumann graduated cum laude from Fordham Law School in 1984, where he was the Managing Editor of the Fordham Law Review. After law school, he was a law clerk to Judge Lawrence W. Pierce of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He then practiced law for more than four years with the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, specializing in corporate matters including securities, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged leasing, and capital markets. Before attending law school, he was a professional musician in New York City.

Scholarly Writing

He is the author of numerous articles on copyright law, including:

• Direct Infringement on Peer-to-Peer Networks, Journal of Internet Law 1 (April 2005)
• Copyright Class War, 11 UCLA Entertainment Law Review 247 (2004)
• Copyright, Containers, and the Court: A Reply to Professor Leaffer, 30 William Mitchell Law Review 1617 (2004)
• The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: A Bird's-Eye View, 30 William Mitchell Law Review 1315 (2004)
• Copyright vs. Consumer, 21 Entertainment and Sports Lawyer 1 (2003)
• Copyright Infringement and Peer-to-Peer Technology, 28 William Mitchell Law Review 1001 (2002)
• An Artist's Privilege, 15 Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Review 249 (1997)
• Small Business and Copyright Ownership, 22 William Mitchell Law Review 1469 (1996)
• Copyright Protection in the Cable Television Industry: Satellite Retransmission and the Passive Carrier Exemption, 51 Fordham Law Review 637 (1983)

He has also contributed to multiple editions of the Securities Regulation title in the Gilbert's Law Summaries series (West Publishing Corp.) and is the author of an article on the law of fiduciary relationships, The Lender as Unconventional Fiduciary, 23 Seton Hall Law Review 21 (1992). His current scholarship focuses on the history of copyright law.